When Jackson met Chase
by hallws
Summary: Percy Jackson is a failed marine biologist, who's about to be kicked out of his apartment. Annabeth Chase is an architect working at Jackson Corporation, who thinks her life is perfect. How will one job interview change their lives forever? AU t for later
1. Good News

**This is my first fanfic. Flame it if you want, constructive criticism. watever. I think it's pretty good. **

**Disclaimer: last time I checked, I wasn't a forty year old man living in texas.**

Sumary: Percy Jackson is a failed marine biologist, who's about to be kicked out of his apartment. Annabeth Chase is an architect working at Jackson Corporation, who thinks her life is perfect. How will one job interview change their lives forever?

Chapter 1: Good news.

Percy's POV

My life sucks. I thought, while staring at my bedroom ceiling. I'm 24, I have ADHD and Dyslexia, and I can't hold a job, so I don't have much money, and my roommate is threatening to kick me out if I don't find enough money to help him with the rent, which is already 3 months overdue. My small job as a waiter in a restaurant barely covers a quarter of my half of the rent, so either I get a job, or I keep whatever dignity I still have, and become a hobo. _Oh, god,_ I thought, _what am I going to do? _

Just then, my roommate, Grover Underwood barged into the pig sty I call my room. He's an African American guy with a wiry frame, curly black hair, and a trim goatee covering his chin. "Good news Percy!" He said, sounding relieved and excited. I immediately closed my eyes, pretending I was asleep, so he would leave. When I didn't answer, his question, he started poking me... once...twice..Three times... Finally, I got sick of it. "What do you want Grover?" I half shouted. "I have good news, Perce." He told me. I rolled my eyes. "Did you finally loose that horrid sweater you got for Christmas?" I asked him, referring to a plaid neon and lime green sweater he'd gotten from one of his relatives at Christmas. "Hey," Grover said, obviously offended by my petty jab, "My mom got me that sweater." I rolled my eyes. Grover may be my best friend, but he's still a Mamma's boy.

"Fine, what's the good news? Did we win the lottery?" I asked him sarcastically.

He glared at me, but let that one slide. "Oh, you know it's not much; I just got you an interview for a job.

That caught my attention. "Where is it?" I asked Grover.

"Where's what?" He asked me, obviously trying to annoy me.

"Where's the job?" I asked him.

"Oh, that." He said. "It's at Olympia Corp. Athena division."

I groaned, it was a well known fact that Athena hated my Dad. "What division? There's like architecture and engineering and writing and stuff right?"

Grover stroked his goatee, as if he were trying to remember something.  
"I think its architecture."

"Architecture? Grover, you know I'm not an architect. I mean, I can be like the janitor or something, but not one of those building designer. I don't know anything about it!"

"Good thing you're not going to be an architect. Anyways, you wouldn't go very far being a janitor. I mean, have you seen your room?" Grover told me.

"So what _am_ I going to be?"

"You're gonna be the assistant of one of the architects, Annabeth Chase. She's nice, but she's a workaholic. Juniper's known her since high school."

I smiled slyly. "She's engaged." He said, while rising an eyebrow, and looking at my facial expression. "She's a friend of Juniper's, so please, don't try _anything_ with her."

I was known at the bar to be a total player. Every girl that came home with me, was back a two or three days later, crying.  
"I'll try G-man, but usually, it's the girl that wants me. Even if they're engaged." I said.

"Just don't try anything. Try to bring out your charm in a way that's not creepy, and you might get the job. Of course considering she's only interviewing you because Juniper and I convinced her, I think it's gonna be highly unlikely that you do get hired."

Juniper is his girlfriend. They met at one of those eco warriors Manhattan meetings. They were both environmentalists, and really, they were perfect for each other.

"So, when's my interview?" I asked him.

"Three hours." He said, "I would start getting ready."

I groaned. "You know I don't have any fancy clothes or suits or anything." He rolled his eyes. "Just find something Percy." He told me. 

Two hours, and 55 minutes later, I stood in line at a Starbucks,wairing a black leather jacket over a white t-shirt, and black jeans, waiting to order a mocha latté. "Can I have the next person in line over here?" Said a familiar voice from behind the farthest counter. "Hey Perce," said my friend, Nico Di Angelo, a shaggy black haired nineteen year old. "Hey Nico, what's up?" I asked him. We didn't see each other much, since he was always at his Dad's house in L.A. "Well, I'm going to NYU, and I finished my second semester. Now, I'm working at Starbucks, for fun." He told me.

Of course he was working for fun. I forgot to mention that his Dad's house is a mansion. His Dad, like all our family was rich. My family on my Dad's side owned a huge company called Olympia corporation, after their names. So far, there were about eleven different divisions. Nico's Dad, Hades DiAngelo owned the jewelers division, my Dad, Poseidon, owns the overseas shipping division, and my Dads other buissness partner, Zeus Grace, owns the airline division.

I know what you guys are thinking. With names like those, these people must be complete wackjobs. We aren't wackjobs. Not really anyways. See, their names weren't originally Poseidon, Hades and Zeus. They changed their names to that when they went into business together, something about bad reps, or something. I never knew my Dad's real name. So, yes, I'm the son of a rich business dude, who runs one of the largest companies in the world. The only reason why I wasn't living in a condo, instead of with a roommate in a two bedroom apartment, was because my Dad wanted me to learn how to 'work'. Personally, I think he just like to torture me.

"So, what do you want?" He asked me.

"I'll have a mocha latté, and a BLT. Grover doesn't buy anything at the grocery store except fruits, vegetables, and his vegetarian junk." I said while Nico went to make my sandwich and Latté.

"Have you seen Thalia lately?" Nico asked me, from the coffee machine. "Nah, I think she has a flight to Sydney or something." Thalia Grace, the daughter of Zeus Grace, is a pilot. Her dad manages the airlines division of the Olympia Corp.

"Oh," Nico said, "That's cool. So, why are you all dressed up?" He asked me.

"I've got a job interview." I told him

"where? A seafood restaurant?" he asked me, grinning.

"Ugh, Nico. No way would I ever work there. It's disgusting seeing fish like that." I said to him, disgusted.

I have a marine biologist degree, but I can never find work as one. I promised never to eat seafood again, because it disgusted me to see my job going down my throat, and because I would be harming defenseless creatures.

"Actually, it's at the company."

His jaw dropped. Thalia, being the Daddy's little girl she is was the only one of us to get a job at the company, apart from me, that is, until I got fired.

"Poseidon division?" he asked.

I snorted. "I wish. Ever since Poseidon fired me, he hasn't offered me a job again. Actually it's at the Athena division. I'm gonna be the assistant for one of the architects." I told him.

Nico checked his watch."So what time's your interview at?" He asked me.

"1 o'clock." He smiled.

"Percy," he began, "Yeah?" his smile became a full blown grin. "You're late." He told me.

"OH SHIT." I said, as I sprinted out the door heading for my motorcycle , forgetting all about my breakfast. I know what you're thinking "How did Percy get a motorcycle, if he can't even pay his bills?" The answer to that question, Ladies and Germs is that it was a present from my dad for my twenty first birthday. It's the only thing (apart from my H3 limited edition Hummer) that he pays for.

After almost being killed by a couple of New York taxi drivers, I pulled up mostly unscathed in front of the Olympia Corp building. I took out my luck. Okay Percy, Take a deep breath. It'll be fine. I thought, trying to soothe myself, as I took out my lucky keychain, which is in the shape of a trident. I know, I know, weird, but what do you expect when your Dad's name is Poseidon, and your family is nuts about Greek mythology? I kept the keychain in my hand, while I walked through the glass doors. Ok, I thought, let's get this show on the road.

I walked up to the red headed receptionist, "Hey, I'm looking for a Miss. Annabeth Chase."

I swear the receptionist was checking me out. She wasn't bad looking so I gave her a roguish wink, and a crooked smile. She blushed.

"Can I have some identification please, Mr...?" she asked me.

"Jackson. Percy Jackson." I said saying my name like James Bond does. It's at times like this when I wish I had sunglasses on.

Her lips mouthed my last name and my lip curled up a little, while I handed her my licence.

"Go right ahead um, Sir. Sixteenth floor, um room one thousand six hundred" The receptionist said.

"Thank you," I squinted at her name tag.

I mentally cursed my dyslexia. Even though my Dad had put me into therapy for dyslexia when I was younger, it was still hard to read when I didn't try too hard, so her name was basically a bunch of meaningless squiggles right now.

"I'll tell my dad to give you a raise or something." I gave her a small smile, and then headed towards the elevators.

It seemed too short a ride to be six floors. And then, in no time at all, I was standing in a bustling hallway, in front of a chestnut haired, green eyed assistant, probably the old one. I recognized her. It was Grover's girlfriend.

"Hey Juniper." I said with a smile.

"Annabeth won't be happy. Didn't Grover tell you not to be late?" I rolled my eyes. "You know what Juniper. I, feel loved. You know, I love it when my best friend's girlfriend greets me with 'Annabeth won't be happy.'" She rolled her eyes.

"Give me a minute to see if she's ready." She pushed a button on the phone.

A minute later, a woman's voice came through it, "Yes Juniper?" The lady said, impatiently.

"Perseus Jackson is here Annabeth."

"Percy." I corrected automatically, and Juniper shot me a glare.

"He's late, I shouldn't interview him." Said the woman through the phone.

"Please Annabeth, you owe me this." The woman sighed.

"Fine Juniper, send him in." "Well, go in," Juniper told me.

I walked up to the polished oak door. I took a deep breath. Put on my best confident smile, and turned the door knob. I opened the door.

"Hi, I'm Percy. Percy Jackson." I told the blond lady behind the oak desk, who I imagined must be Annabeth Chase.

**OOOOhhhhh...Clifhanger... anyways I'll update soon. Reviews are helpful, so Rn'R.**

**Peace, Cymopoleia.**


	2. First Impressions

**Okay after I put up the first chapter I decided I was on a roll, so I wrote another chapter. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: Is my name Rick? No. Am I a guy? NO. have I written a whole bunch of books? Sadly, no. In conclusion, I own nothing :'(.**

Summary: Percy Jackson is a failed marine biologist, who's abotu to be kicked out of his apartment. Annabeth Chase is an architect working at Jackson Corporation, who thinks her life is perfect. How will one job interview change their lives forever?

Chapter 2: First Impressions

Annabeth's POV

I sat there in my spacious office, going over some plans for a building, impatiently drumming my fingers against the wood of my desk. I looked up from my plans, and out of the sixteenth story view of New York City. I wondered why I'd let Juniper convince me to interview this guy. Apparently, he didn't care enough about this job to arrive to the interview on time. I had better things to do with my time than wait for some nimrod to get his ass in my office.

The phone rang. "Yes Juniper?" I asked my friend who was on the other side of the receiver. "Perseus Jackson is here Annabeth." Oh joy, I thought to myself sarcastically. "He's late, I shouldn't interview him." I told my friend. "Please Annabeth, you owe me." She pleaded. Well, she was filling in until I found a new assistant, so I guess I did owe her one I sighed, "Fine Juniper, send him in." A minute later, a tall black haired guy walked in. He looked kind of familiar, but I couldn't remember where I'd seen him. Wait. Jackson was his last name? I know his dad owns like a third of the company, but that's not it. Maybe it was somebody from college or something. I stood up, extending my hand, while severely saying, "So, Mr. Jackson, you finally decided to show up. Please note that tardiness is absolutely not tolerated at this division." The guy rolled his eyes. "Sorry _M'am_." He said sarcastically, "I ran into a friend and I lost track of time." Great, I thought, since you don't seem to keep track of time, I won't have to hire you. It almost slipped out of me, instead, I said, "Juniper told me that you've worked for this company before. What division, and what did you do." He shook my outstretched hand with a firm grip, and took a seat, while I leaned back into my gray leather chair.

He scratched his head as if to say, 'Lemme see,' Wow. This guy must have passed through a whole bunch of jobs. How old was he again? 22? 23? Wow. "Okay," He said, "I worked as a marine biologist in the Poseidon division," he paused while I wrote that down on a little note pad I had on my desk. Marine Biologist. Don't you need a diploma for that? He continued listing his previous employers and jobs. "Then I worked as the coffee guy in the Ares division until..." He stopped for a bit, grinning while reminiscing the good times. Coffee guy, I asked myself, while raising an incredulous eyebrow. Wow. I guess the Ares people didn't like him much. "I was Apollo's personal assistant for a bit," Impressive. Apollo is one of the 'top dogs'. He rambled on. "Anything else Mr. Jackson?" I asked him and he got this weird proud look on his face. "Yeah, I worked in the Aphrodite division a bit." Wonderful. Another airhead. I thought " I did some shoots as a swimsuit model for her magazine." That explains where I'd seen him. He must have been in one of the magazines I flip through at the supermarket. Just flip through. It's not like I actually read that stuff. God no. "My last job was at Hermes division, as a home security sales man. I've worked almost everywhere except here, Hades Division, Zeus Division, Artemis Division, Dionysus, Hera and Demeter." He concluded as I eyed his resume. Crap. His recommendations were pretty good, and they were all from powerful people. This made me wonder why he got fired.

"Well, Mr. Jackson, most of your recommendations are pretty good. I'll call you sometime this week to let you know whether you have a job or not. Have a good day." I said after putting on a fake smile. I stood up to shake his hand, and that's when I looked him in the eyes. Normally, when I look people in the eyes, I try to decide whether I should give them the job or if I should just kick them to the curb. Before, I thought his eyes were blue. Now, I realized they were a hell of a lot more different. They were sea green, with different spectrums of blue bursting out of them.

Then, I realized he had one of his eyebrows raised and his eyes were looking at the delicate gold band on my left ring finger. "Promise to call me only about the job." He said, adding a wink. "Yeah." I smirked, and said with my cool and calm attitude. He raised an eyebrow like he didn't believe me. "So who's the lucky guy?" I smiled, "His name is Luke Castellan." His eyes narrowed, and his jaw clenched. "Luke Castellan, eh?" "Yeah..." I said to him. "He doesn't happen to be about 5 foot ten, with blonde hair and blue eyes?" He asked me, still frowning. "Yeah, he does. Why do you know him or something?" I was confused now. That's a lot to say. I don't usually get confused; usually I knew everything about everything and everyone. "You could say that." I was about to ask him what he meant when he abruptly said, "Have a nice day Miss. Chase." I frowned, but said, "Have a good afternoon Mr. Jackson." He smiled and said, "Call me Percy. Mr. Jackson sounds too old for a 23 year old guy." He walked out the door, and said bye to Juniper telling her that Grover was going to take her out to lunch later.

Several minutes passed while I read the notes I took about Perseus Jackson. His basic skills seemed to be alright. He worked in this company several times, but he either quit or got 'laid off' as he put it in his resume. He graduated from NYU a couple of years ago. He majored in marine biology, and minored in Greek mythology, which I thought was kind of odd, until I remembered who his dad was and who his family was. From what I've read, his family was really, really crazy about Mythology. He also played college soccer, but preferred to stick to his studies rather than continue to play on for professional teams. Good for him. I thought when I read this.

Then I read the bottom where it said MEDICAL CONDITIONS. Apparently, he had Dyslexia and ADHD. Great ,the terrible twos. Thanks to his Dyslexia, he can't read, and with his ADHD, he couldn't sit still too much. Maybe I'll get him a treadmill, I thought wryly. I wondered how these medical conditions would affect his work ethic... I kind of pity the guy. I wonder what it's like to not be able to read.

In the end, I decided, that even though he had ADHD and Dyslexia he would make a pretty good assistant(well, better than most of the other doofuses whom I had to interview). He had been in this field before, with people who were way more important than me (it hurt my pride to say this), and in the end he was neck in neck with a girl called Sky Xavier, a platinum blonde (I think she dyed her hair that colour. It definitely didn't seem natural) hippie child or something. She was nice, but you know, being a hippie child, she was kind of weird, and I was afraid she would... scare people away. Then again, when you have ADHD, you tend to blurt things out unless you took your meds or something. Either would have the same problem, except, well, Hippie child didn't have meds.

"Annabeth, _he's _here." The way Juniper said he made me think of a garbage can oozing some form of goo. "Can I have a name Juniper?" I could almost hear her roll her eyes. "You know, _him_, the sleazy, lying, cheating thing you call your boyfriend." I smiled. "He's my fiancé by the way. I didn't know he was taking me to lunch!" I said, delighted by the surprise. "Tell Luke I'll be right out okay. I just have to finish doing something." I said sounding excited.

I grabbed my grey coat from the hook behind the door. Said a quick eeny-mini-myni-mo, and circled one of the names of the people I interviewed, and quickly scrawled the number on the paper beside the name I circled. I rushed out the door and crashed into the chest of my fiancée. "Hey Luke." I said. He kissed my head. "Hey Annie." I pulled back, away from him. "I told you not to call me that. I sound like a five year old when you call me 'Annie'." I told him. He smiled sheepishly, and said "Sorry, sorry. Force of habit" I smiled at him. "Fine, I forgive you. This time." I added severely, letting him know that it would not be tolerated ever again, then, I turned to Juniper. "I left a name and a phone number on my desk. Can you call the number and tell the person, they got the job, and to be here tomorrow at six for job and task orientation. Thanks, and I'll see you after lunch." Juniper nodded once and said, "have fun with that sluty piece of meat you call 'Luke'." Using the finger quotes when she said my Fiancé's name. "I'm right here you know." Luke said. Juniper raised her eyebrow, flipped her hair over her shoulder, and put her hands on her hips, "Your point being?" She challenged.

Seeing a fight on the horizon, I took Luke's hand in mine and said, "Let's just go eat lunch, 'Kay?" then, I dragged him towards the elevators. I still didn't know why Juniper hated Luke so much, or why she called Luke a 'sluty piece of meat' or some other 'subtle' insult. It was weird because Perseus Jackson also seemed to dislike him.

**Well, that's the second chapter. Hope you liked it :D I'll update soon cuz I have nothing to do.**

**Au Revoire, Cymopoleia**


	3. Out of the Frying Pan, and Into the Fire

**This chapter won't exactly be the best yet, but it's sort of a filler chapter, so don't give up on me.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not Rick Riordan unless I get a sex change and change my name.**

Sumary: Percy Jackson is a failed marine biologist, who's about to be kicked out of his apartment. Annabeth Chase is an architect working at Olympia Corporation, who thinks her life is perfect. How will one job interview change their lives forever?

CHAPTER 3: Curse my luck

PERCY'S POINT OF VIEW

I stood by my locker in the staff room (room being a whole bunch of lockers shoved against a wall, and a bench), changing into the black shirt and olive green and black striped tie with 'Olive Garden' printed on it. I would have gotten a job at one of the restaurants my family owns, but for once I wanted a job away from the family business. I've been working here for at least two weeks, and with all the tips, it's barely enough money to help with a quarter of the rent.

"Percy, you have tables four, five, six, seven, and eight this shift." Said Amber, the blonde, peppy greeting girl on my shift.

"Kay thanks Amber. Is there anybody at any of them right now?"

She nodded, and said, "Table eight."

I put on my name tag, and tried another failed attempt at combing my hair. For a minute it worked. Then, it popped back to its usual messy state. May be I'll use gel next time. Right, like that would help. I shook my head, and then headed out towards table eight.

I walked to the table, practicing what I would say in my head. I plastered a smile on my face, and walked in front of the blonde couple, that were eyeing the menu.

"Hi, I'm Percy, and I'm going to be your server for today. Have you decided what you want to have today?" It was the standard waiter small talk. Normally, there were no questions about anything, but then I looked at the couple. It was like flashing a DANGER sign in front of me. Dirty blonde hair, cold blue eyes, chiselled nose. I was all there.

"Perseus?" Said the woman.

I looked over to her. It was Annabeth Chase. The lady that had just interviewed me at least thirty minutes ago.

"Percy." I corrected mechanically, while looking at the guy next to her. "Castellan." I said through my teeth.

He grinned, almost maliciously, "Hey Percy, I didn't know you worked here! How are Thalia, Bianca and Rachel? Oh, and Nico, how is he, we haven't talked since forever!" He said, faking surprise.

"Oh, you know, Thal is flying around and Bianca and Rachel found some common ground now. The girls have never been ones to hang around with heartbreak. Especially Thal. And Nico, well, Nico is itching to punch something. I think he would make a great boxer, ya know. I see that scar of yours is heeling nicely." I told him looking at the left side of his face, where Thal's nails had dug into his face a week or two ago.

"You know nothing some cream couldn't fix."

I chuckled hollowly, and said, "How about your nose, that still has to hurt," I said lightly, referring to the injury Nico gave him while right hooking his face, a day or two after Thalia had dug her nails in his skin.

"Eh, you know nothing serious." He said, tilting his head to the side.

"Well, you deserved what you got." I told him, jaw locked. He shrugged.

"That'll teach you better than to mess with us you scum bag." I said, restraining from punching his nose, while he rolled his eyes.

"You've always been so melodramatic, Percy. You're blowing this out of proportion." He told me.

I took a deep breath, counted to three, and faced my maybe-boss-to-be. "Would you like something to drink while you decide what to eat?" I asked her, promising myself that I would pretend to only serve her, and not her jerk fiancé. She looked up at me, as if I'd snapped her out of her train of thought.

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. What did you say?" she asked me, sharply.

I smiled, knowing what it was like to just zone out, and lose track of the world. Yet her tone caught me by surprise. I actually thought we'd hit it off ok. I repeated my question.

She looked thoughtful for a minute, and then said, "Two cokes." I guess she realised my mental promised, since I imagined the two cokes weren't for just her.

"Sure, I'll get those for you right away." I looked at Luke, rolled my eyes, looked at Miss. Chase, pasted a plastic smile on my face, turned around, and walked directly to the kitchen.

I know I should explain Luke, but really he's a touchy subject for us (the girls ,Nico, and I). So, for now, I'll just go on being good waiter dude. As soon as I got into the kitchen, I sat down on one of the plastic bendy chairs. You know those crappy plastic chairs they sell at wall mart and stuff. I put my head in my hands and sighed loudly.

"What's wrong Percy?" asked my 19 year old colleague, Jimmy or Jeremy or something. Well, the point is, he asked me what was wrong. Or was it that his name started with a 'J'?

"Umm, hello? Percy?" Jimmy/ Jeremy asked, while snapping his fingers in front of my face.

"Umm, what?" I asked him.

"You blanked out." He said.

"So?"

he shrugged. "So what's wrong?" He asked me again.

"Oh, you know I just found out that my worst enemy, who incidentally was three of my friend's ex-boyfriend, is engaged to my future possible boss to be. So you know Dude, everything is great. Just great." I told him letting a bit of sarcasm slip into my voice.

"Oh, and by the way, they want two cokes, and I'll have some Budweiser."

He chuckled at the last bit, and went to get my bottle of beer, and fill up the glasses of coke. The employees weren't supposed to drink on the job, but the kitchen staff were all cool people, so they let us have a bottle of beer, provided you gave them at least five bucks.

I raked my hand through my already messed up black hair. My hair was getting kind of long. I have to stop by the barber's. I added this to the endless list of things I have to do this week; groceries (I have no idea why I do this particular chore I mean, Grover does all the cooking), laundry, vacuuming... I mean, isn't it enough that I do my bed... sometimes... usually not, but still I do my bed. Just thinking about all this was getting me tired.

"Here ya go Percy." Said Jeremy/Jimmy, while setting down the two tall glasses filled with brown fizzy liquid, that I assumed was coke. I looked around. No beer bottles in sight. I wasn't very happy.

"Kid, where's my beer?" I asked him.

He frowned. Obviously, he didn't appreciate being called a kid. Then he shrugged, "Rules changed. You have to pay in advance now. Also, the chef said not to give you anymore beer, 'cause he knows you don't have any money to pay for it."

I gave him my death glare. "Fine then. Leave me alone with my crappy day. If I'm rude to the customers and I get fired, it's on you." I said unhappily.

"You know, I could give you some advice... That is, if you want it." He told me.

If there was one thing I'd learned from being friends with Nico, it was to never take any advice from a nineteen year old. Then again, my cousin, the emo child isn't exactly your average teenager. Still, I decided to play it safe.

"Oh, umm, no thanks Jeremy, I think I have a plan that'll work pretty well." I told my colleague. Silence.

"My name is John." He said.

Oh crap. Time for my world renown damage control. "Umm... Yeah, I uh know. That's what I said." See I told you it was brilliant. "Any ways, I got to go give this to them before the ice melts." I said, gesturing to the two cokes. With that, I put the cokes on a tray, and speed walked out of the kitchen.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire, is a phrase that comes to mind when I think back on today. As soon as I got out of the kitchen, which was feeling tense, I got to table eight, aka, the fire, and gave them the drinks. Then I got the strong urge to punch Luke in the face. Well, that's not unusual. To make myself feel better, I spit in the spaghetti Alfredo, which turned out to be Annabeth's food. I think she noticed. If I get hired, I am _so _fired. Between my interview, and everything that happened in between the start of work and the end of work, and the Korean cat lady yelling at me about something to do with 'Fluffy', this was a truly exhausting day.

When I got back to my apartment, there was two messages on the answering machine. Grover wasn't home yet from his rally thing, so I pressed the play button.

"Hey Percy, Hey Grover, it's me, Juniper, I calling about Percy's interview at Athena division. You got the job. So we'll see you tomorrow for the training day, and then you're on your own. Anyways, I know how distracted you can get, so set an alarm clock or have Grover wake you up. Get here at ten A.M. That's AM not PM, so wake up as early as you have to. Bye." Dial tone. It took a minute for the news to set in.

"Woohooo!" I shouted at the ceiling. This would be the time where I stick my head out the window, and announce it to the world. You know what's funny? I actually did that once when I got accepted into NYU. It ended in a whole lot of weird stares from my neighbours and a couple of commuters.

The other one was from Thalia, one of my best friends.

"Hey Percy. Just calling to say that I'm coming home in two days, and I wanted to ask you if you could pick me up at La Guardia at six thirtyish at night. So anyways, I'll see you Friday, and if I'm not too jet lagged maybe we can have a few drinks at a bar or watch a movie with the gang at you apartment or something. Bye." She clicked off.

I grabbed the nearest sharpie and note pad, and scribbled down the time for the work thing, and when and where to pick Thalia up. I imagined her down in Sydney partying with the Aussies. Or being mean to them. Either way, she'd be having a blast over there, like she normally does when she's in another country.

Next I called Grover.

" Grover, my main man, you will _**never **_believe what happened. I mean never with bold and italics." I told him.

"What, did you get the job?" He asked me, dryly.

Of course, he already knew. Juniper was his girlfriend after all.

"Well, actually, yeah." I said.

"Cool, look don't mess it up this time, 'cause this one actually pays for your half of the rent." I chuckled,

"I'll try G-Man, I'll try."

***cringes internally* I told you this one wouldn't be great. I got writers block half way through, so don't blame me, blame my imagination. So any ways see ya next chapter, don't forget to review, and thanks to all who did, **

**Leia**


	4. Because I am Annabeth Chase

**Okay, this chapter is going to really really short, but I think its pretty good, so flame if you must, but you know, keep reading. I promise Ill update really really(wow, I've use 'really' so much!) soon ****Thanks to everyone who reviewed, you guys rock.**

**Disclaimer: IF i were Rick Riordan, I would have made the series at least six books long. IF i were Rick Riordan, I would have made Percabeth exist berfore the last book. IF i were rick riordan. Sadly I'm not.**

**Annyways, here's chapter 4. Enjoy**

Chapter 4: Because I'm Annabeth Chase

Annabeth's POV

As soon as I got to the Jackson Corp. building, the receptionist, Kayla, gave me a note from Juniper.

"Annabeth," It began, "I went out to lunch with Grover (Percy _was_ right! He did take me out). Just wanted to tell you that I called Percy, and told him via recorded message, that he should be here at around 10 am for his training day." She knew how I liked being informed. I will miss the days when one of my friends is my secretary. Don't get me wrong, I mean, I'm happy Juniper got that job in the New York Times, but I had a strong feeling that working with Percy Jackson was not going to be a good change. And anyways, I'm gonna have to plot my revenge 24/7 because even if he did look a bit guilty about spitting in my food, he STILL spat in my food.

As I entered the elevator, I noticed that the back of the post it had a P.S on it. "I know a great way for both of you to get to work on time. It's also environmentally friendly!" I frowned. This will NOT end well. I could already guess what it was.

I was fuming by the time I reached my floor. Of course she comes up with this all by herself, without telling me of her 'brilliant' plan, just because she thought, and I quote, "It is environmentally friendly". It might be environmentally friendly, but considering what happened earlier today, it sure wasn't going to be a friendly environment, I concluded, thinking about the tense environment I had been in half an hour ago for at least an hour.

Then again, things at the interview went by pretty smooth, until I mentioned Luke. And then again at the restaurant. Luke was there, and Jackson didn't have the laid back aura he had back at the interview. He'd been tenser. And angry. Definitely angry. When he had been handing out the food, he had this mischievous look on his face, that was worthy of Connor and Travis Stoll, two of my cousins. Then, when he saw that I was eating the pasta, he got this worried and apologetic look on his face. I realized he'd done something to my pasta, thinking it was Luke's food, and not mine.

Then there were the Thalia and Nico people. I could have sworn Luke had paled when he mentioned 'Thalia'. What had that comment referring to Luke's scar meant? And the Nico guy being a good boxer? I thought of Jackson's, Grover's (who I had met once, briefly), and Juniper's behaviour towards Luke. It was unfriendly to say the least.

Because, I am Annabeth Chase, I don't like being kept in the dark. I didn't like it when I was fifteen and my dad was hiding is drinking problem, and I sure as hell don't like it now, when people who are close to me, or work for me, or are dating my friend or worse, are dating me, try to keep something from me. I'll find out in the end. I always do. Because I'm Annabeth Chase.

**So that's it for chapter 4. Next up is going to be Annabeth's POV again. Review, and Ill update next week or sooner. **

**Leia**


	5. Not My Story To Tell

**Hello People. Okay, I know its been a while, I've been really busy with soccer and stuff. I had a game yesterday so I couldn't put it up then, but the good part is that i was deemed star player by my team, cuz i had an awesome game. Anyways, here is chapter 5. I made it extra long, because the last chapter was so short. It keeps changing POVs so keep that in mind. Anyways here is chapter 5.**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I am not rick riordan. I don't own Annabeth, grover, thalia, nico, percy ,juniper, or any other character apart from Jimmy/Jeremy/John and the Crazy Korean Cat Lady adn Fluffy.**

Chapter 5: Not my story to tell

**Percy POV**

"_Thalia, what's wrong?" I asked my cousin in the dream."Percy, I loved him Percy. I did. I still do." Said Thalia, who I could now tell was on the verge of a break down, "What did he do Thalls? Did he hurt you?" I asked her, concerned. "N-n-no Percy. He didn't do anything to __**me**__."She said accenting the word me." P-Promise me you won't hurt him." She pleaded. Thalia never pleaded. Tears were streaming their way down her face, blurring the mascara around her eyes._

_Thalia my older cousin, almost my sister, was sitting here, on my couch at eleven o'clock, crying. Thalia who never, as long as I'd known her, ever cried. Not even when she was at her mom's funeral ten years ago. Then again, they didn't have the strongest relationship._

_Yet here she was, crying, and pleading me to not send the creep who'd hurt her to a hospital bed, or better yet, the morgue. I mean sure, she is a tough girl and everything, but at the moment, I didn't think she was going to do anything violent anytime soon._

"_I went to his apartment before, I brought a picnic basket, I thought we could go to Central Park. He was in his bed with another girl. He was w-w-with another g-g-girl." She said, " P-P-Percy, what do I do? W-W-What did I do?" She asked me, between sniffles. I was too shocked to say anything. There was nothing I could do, nothing I could say. Except go kick that son of a bi - no. Thalia needs me right now, I thought. "It's Ok Thalls." I said. "You can stay here tonight. You're not in any condition to drive anyways." I told her, I'll take care of this tomorrow, I added silently. I picked her up, walked over to my room, and put her down on my bed. "Goodnight Thalia. Don't worry, you can do way better than that jerk, Ca–" _

I was being shaken awake roughly, from my dream. "Aagh, go to hell." I mumbled, wanting to sleep longer, but knowing I was going to wake up anyways. "Dude, wake up." Said Grover's voice. "Do I have to? Can't I sleep a little bit longer?" I asked. "No. Get out of bed, shower, throw on some clothes, and eat something. Its nine thirty already." He said, in commanding tone, the type a mom would use. "Yes, mother." I said, with a slight smirk on my face, and went to find something clean to wear. Luckily, it had been laundry day yesterday, so I didn't have to look far for a pair of faded jeans and a blue button down shirt. I held them up triumphantly, happy to finally have something semi-formal to wear, and then headed towards the bathroom.

"Oh, C'mon!" I shouted at the taxi that just cut me off. For 9:50 in the morning, apparently, most New Yorkers liked getting to work late, so the traffic was slower than a summon wrestler in a swimming pool. "I knew I should have taken a taxi." I muttered to myself, regretfully. Sure, most taxi drivers were brain dead morons, but at least they get you to your destination faster than if you were driving yourself.

I honked my horn again, wondering if I could crush the grey Volkswagen in front of me under my hummer. Before I could try, the light turned green, and the small car shot away. I shook my head, and stomped on the gas.

I got to the Jackson Corporation building with a couple of minutes to spare, opening the door, I told the receptionist that I had to go to the Athena floor stat. "Yes sir," she said to me, recognizing me from yesterday, "go ahead." , she told me motioning towards the elevator, who's doors were about to close. I sprinted towards the closing door, and put my hand between the doors. I let out an audible sigh of relief, and pressed the button, not caring that the people on the elevator were staring at me. "Punk." Said a rough voice from behind me, that I immediately recognized as Clarisse La Roue, my formal employer at the Ares division. I smirked despite myself, "'Sup Clarisse." I said to her. She growled. My smirk became a full blown grin. "Nice ta see ya too boss." The elevator doors opened, and she pushed past me on her way to get out. I gave her a mock salute just as the doors closed (which was good, because I had a feeling that she was gonna tackle me).

As soon as the doors opened to the sixteenth floor, I jogged out and checked my watch. 9:56. Perfect. I sprinted over to Juniper's- sorry _my _new desk, where Juniper was sitting. She motioned towards the open door, too absorbed with the book she was reading to look up, which revealed Annabeth Chase sitting at her desk, with her head in her hands staring thoughtfully out the floor to ceiling windows. "Penny for your thoughts, Boss?" I asked slim blond behind the desk.

**Annabeth POV**

I've been here since 6 am, trying to milk some information from Juniper. All I got from her was, 'I really don't know the details. Ask Percy. Or Grover', and 'SHHHH, Bella's about to find out that Edward is a vampire'. Not helpful.

It's currently 10 am, and still no information. I hate being clueless. I know what you're thinking, 'Why didn't she ask Luke when she got home?'. The reason is that we don't live together. I know weird. We're engaged and we don't live together. Luke said that he likes his space. He has no objection to living with me(if he did, why would we be engaged?), but he believes in chastity until marriage, and said it would be too tempting. So I let him have his space.

"Penny for your thoughts, Boss?" Asked Jackson, entering my office silently. I turned towards him, "You're late." I told him. He rolled his green eyes, "It's 9:58. I'm not late." He told me, scornfully. I narrowed my eyes at his mocking tone, "It's basically 10." I said, "Just two more minutes until 10. Two minutes doesn't exactly matter." I told him in a tone that sent a clear message, 'you're getting on my nerves kid'. "Yes it does." Jackson told me, proud of himself for some reason, "It means I was two minutes away from being late." I rolled my eyes, but otherwise stayed quiet, knowing he had won the argument.

"So, as you know, today is going to be you training day. To begin, I have some rules for you about working with me." I told him, my tone serious. He looked like he was expecting this.

"First off, any call from a client or my boss should be answered immediately, and be put to my line as fast as possible." I stopped briefly, wondering if he got this. He raised an eyebrow, impatiently, motioning for me to keep going.

"Secondly, you have thirty minutes for lunch, no more and no less. Use them however you want. Thirdly, don't use the phone to make personal calls, and keep the lines open at all times." I told him. "Is that all?" He asked me teasingly, a small smile playing at his lips. I frowned, wanting to say something along the lines of, No, I want to know why you hate Luke, but I held myself back. All in good time Annabeth, all in good time, I told myself.

"No, Also If you're late, I won't hesitate to fire you." I said severely. "Yeah, sure you won't." He said, smirking, "I'll probably be the best assistant you've ever had. You won't fire me." He promised, still smirking. "Someone's obviously got a big ego." I told him. His smirk became even more pronounced, "Only when you say it like that." He told me. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I didn't succeed.

"Anyways," I said, "You have to quit your job at the olive garden." He raised an eyebrow, "Why?" He asked me, "You don't want to run into me on another one of your dates with Castellan?" He asked me, sneering. Well, considering you spat in my food,yes, I thought, "No," I told him, "Actually, this job is full time, you wouldn't have time to work both here and there. Also, if I hand in my service review for it, you would lose your job anyways." I told him, calmly. He paled, "W-What do you mean Annabeth?" I realized that was the first time he'd called me by my first name. Ever. "oh, nothing, its just that I'm pretty sure they wouldn't want you to tarnish their reputation because you spat on my food, is all." I told him, feeling incredibly power full. "Look, Annabeth, I didn't know that the food was yours. I thought it was Castellans. I'm sorry" He apologized, "Normally,I wouldn't do anything like that, but see, Luke, he really gets on my nerves." I was taken aback, I knew he didn't like Luke, but I didn't expect him to confess that he did it, _and _apologize. Maybe, Jackson isn't such a bad person. I thought about it. "Apology accepted." I told him. He looked relieved, and said, "Thanks, anyways, I'll quit" He told me.

"Good, okay, now, Juniper has to explain how some stuff works out front, and get you a security pass and stuff. So come back when you're finished, I still have one thing we need to do." I told him, motioning towards the door. "Yes boss." He said, while walking out the door. Half way out the frame, he spun on his heels, and gave me a grin and a mock salute. Maybe he's not so bad after all, I thought for the second time today. He closed the door, and a second later I heard Juniper's muffled voice say, "What? You're done already? Ughh, guess it's my turn. Too bad, the book was getting interesting." I rolled my eyes at the last comment; how could 'Twilight' be any good. It had no facts, just pure romance and fiction.

As soon as the clanking from Juniper's heels had subsided, I took out my laptop bag, and fished around it until I found the questionnaire I'd prepared last night, so I could 'get to know' him better, if you get my drift. I fished out a blue pen from one of my desk drawers, and set it beside the questionnaire on the opposite end from where I was sitting.

I took out the latest issue of Architecture Today, one of my favourite magazines, and focused on absorbing the architectural facts in the article about the tower of Pisa.

**Percy POV**

We hurried towards the security office, a grey room with T.V monitors showing different areas of the building covering a wall, a couple of staff lockers and benches, and a small fridge next to a microwave. Behind a small desk, sat a blond guy, mouth wide open, snoring loudly. "Argus!" Juniper said loudly, waking him up. "Aagh!" yelled Argus, while falling of backwards from his chair. "This is Percy Jackson, Argus. He's taking over for me as Annabeth's assistant. Percy, Argus is the head of security at Jackson Corp." She told him, while Argus looked over at me, his blue eyes shining with curiosity. "You're Poseidon's kid, right?" He asked me. "Yeah, how'd ya know?" I asked him, curiously. "Thalia, Nico, and Bianca have already met me. Also your eyes gave it away." He told me. "So you're Annabeth's new assistant?" he asked me. "Yeah." I said. He grinned, "Good luck kid, Annabeth is a bit of a handful at times." Juniper cleared her throat. "Argus, we need to give Percy a security pass, fast." She told him.

He turned to Juniper, and nodded once, "Yes m'am." He said to her, turned, and walked of in the direction of the lockers. "What now?" I asked my roommate's girlfriend. "He's gonna get a camera." She told me in a tone that said, 'DUH!'. "Wait why do we need a camera?" I asked her. She stared at me like I was an idiot. "Oh, he's gonna take my picture!" I said out loud, answering my own question. "No. Friggin'. Hell." Juniper said sarcastically, "I swear Percy, if you were any stupider, you could qualify as psychologically impaired." Sheesh, you would think I just punched her grandmother in the stomach, the way she's been acting, because, normally, she was one of the nicest people ever. Maybe she was PMSing.

"Okay Percy," Said Argus, returning with a professional looking camera, and saving me (probably) from anymore insults regarding my intelligence. "Stand against that wall over there, and say 'Cheese'." He told me. I felt like I was back in grade school, getting my picture taken by a camera man, who was telling me to 'look at the birdy'. "Can I say 'Pepsi'?" I asked Argus, "I like Pepsi more than cheese. Well, actually, I like coke way better than pepsi, but saying coke doesn't make you-" I was cut off in med sentence, by Juniper shouting, "Just smile!", In a very annoyed tone.

I laughed at Juniper's reaction, but managed to control it into a smile, just as the flash went off. "All right," the head of security said, "That should be ready by tonight. Are you staying the whole day today Percy?" he asked. "No sir, I start tomorrow morning." I told him. He shrugged, "Okay, I'll give these to you tomorrow then. Unless, you have something planned Juniper." He added, while Juniper nodded, "I've got something planned." And with that, she said goodbye to Argus, and walked out the security door. I said goodbye to Argus, and jogged after her, "Juniper, what do you mean, you've got something planned?" I asked her. "Oh, it's just that you and Annabeth are carpooling until you get fired. And since you start tomorrow, you are going to drive to her apartment, and she'll give you the security pass." She told me, nonchalantly. "Greattt…" I muttered sarcastically.

For the next ten minutes, Juniper taught me how to answer a phone. Believe me, I'm not kidding. I took her like five minutes to show me what all the different buttons did, and another five to get me to answer it 'correctly'. Correctly being, no swearing, no flirting with the other person, not being mean or rude. I have to say, Good morning or afternoon or whatever, Jackson corporation, Athena division, Annabeth Chase's office, this is Percy, please hold. Ten minutes, it took us to got that right.

"Okay," Juniper finally said, "I'm done with you. Now, go back to Annabeth, 'cause she has one more thing left to do with you." I smiled mischievously, and Juniper realized how it sounded. "Not that. I mean you guys have something to do." She said, exasperated. "Just go."

Inside Annabeth's office, sat Annabeth (NO DUH!). She was reading some sort of magazine or something when I came in, and didn't notice me, which gave me a chance to finally study my new boss.

She had blond hair, which I had noticed when I first saw her. It was the type of curly you'd imagine a princess in a fairy tale would have. She was slim. Not skinny like some girls or well, women, but slim. You could tell she took care of herself. She was definetly attractive, one of the hottest women I'd ever met. Though her gray eyes ruined the image of a California girl, they were still unique, and almost made her better looking. She always seemed to be looking for a way to 'eliminate' you. She was quick and witty, and as far as I could tell, completely sarcastic.

She'd be great friends with Athena, I thought suddenly, reffering to another one of his cousins. She did seem like her type of person.

"Ummm… Percy? Hello? Anyone in there?" Annabeth asked me, waving her hand in front of my face, suddenly in facing me. I caught her wrist while she was waving it back and forth. "Can you not do that? It's kind of annoying." I said lightly. "You were staring at me." She said indignantly. "You can't know that," I countered, "I could have been thinking about something, like the economy, and my eyes just happened to land on you." She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, like _you _would think about the economy. More like mentally undressing me." I frowned, " I was so, not thinking about that." I told her. "Yes, because it is highly likely that you were thinking of 'the economy'" She said sarcastically. "Didn't you wear your pants backwards once in public?" She asked me teasingly. "That- wait. How did you know that?" I asked her, embarrassed. "Oh, I have my sources." She said superiorly, while examining her nails. "Juniper told you didn't she?" I said, embarrassed. "Thank you, Captain Obvious!" Came Juniper's reply. We turned around to look at her. She looked up from her book, "What, it's not like it's not obvious that James is a tracker, and he wants to kill Bella. I mean, come _on!_" We stared at her. "Okay, crazy level is going up WAY to high around here." I said.

" Can you let go of my wrist now?" Annabeth asked me. "Oh, Ummm, right sorry" I apologized sheepishly, letting go of her wrist. "Right, well, Anyways," She began, " I've got one more thing for you to do Jackson." I rolled my eyes, again with the use of the last name! "What, Chase?" I asked her. "You have to answer some questions." She told me. I put on my thinking face, "Okay, how about, Yes, no, to get to the other side, and 1 point 772453851." She blinked. "I didn't ask for the square root of pi." She said. " That's the square root of pi?" I asked, stupidly. "Yes." She said slowly, like she was talking to an infant "really? I just picked that number out randomly. What are the chances?" I asked rehtortically.

" Anyways," she said, "I have this little quiz thing for you to do, just to get to know you better. When you finish, just give it to me, and you can leave on my desk."

"You may begin." My new boss told me severely, before going back to her magazine. "Yes professor McGonagall." I said in a British accent as I sat down, my voice heavy with sarcasm. She looked up from her magazine, and rolled her eyes. "Be quiet Potter." She said severely, in her own British accent, mimicking Minerva McGonagall. I chuckled lightly, and started trying to decifer the questions, which wasn't hard, since I was in a good mood today.

_is you birthday?_

Okay, random kindergarten level question. I answered that one easily.

_all the members of your family._

This, could take me a while.

All the questions were pretty much like that until question 11.

_What happened between your family and Luke?_

I hesitated. That wasn't really my story to tell. It was Thalia's. I couldn't just blab about it to some stranger I barely know, much less a stranger that was engaged to him. Why doesn't she just ask him?

_Not my story to tell. Ask Castellan. Then, if he doesn't say anything, ask me again, and maybe I can work something out. _I wrote under the question, thinking this was probably the easiest way to go, and still help her out somehow.

I gave her the paper, and turned towards the door. "See you tomorrow boss. Oh, and that reminds me, what's your address?" I asked her, suddenly reminded of what Juniper said earlier. "For the carpooling?" She asked. "OF course." I said. She looked at me, "What, it's not like im going o spy on you or something." I said " 2 west 122nd street." She said, still looking at the magazine. "Cool, I'll be there at six thirty." I said, and walked out the door.

**So that was chapter five, I might not be on for a while cuz school starts, and my parents want me to study a lot, cuz its my last year of middle school, and it counts for something. Anyways R&R,**

**Leia**


	6. AN PLEASE READ!

**Dear readers, sorry for not updating this story much, but i haven't been allowed on the computer that much since the start of school, and i have been incredibly bussy. Sorry for the inconvenience, If you have any suggestions on what i should write next, don't hesitate to PM me at any time,**

**-Leia**


	7. 6 Stupid Phone Calls

**Heh...oh...Hi... I realize it's been...what, a couple of months since I updated, but I have an incredibly long list of incredibly pathetic excuses for you guys...lemme just get my note book first off, I went on vacation...yAy! the place had a pool so I spent most of my time in the water. No chance of me risiking my laptops safety to write while in a pool. Next, I've had soccer three days a week, leaving me only 4 days to write during the evenings after said soccer practices, I come home with a headache...why? Imagine the loudest girls at your school. Multiply the noise the make by twenty. Add an echoing room, and you get my soccer practice. In those four days, I have band pratice in the morning on Wednesdays before school, and brass ensemble practice on Thursdays after school. one of the four days...gone. Next, my parents got the wonderful idea of being angry at me, and putting parental control/time sttings on my home computer (aka, my HQ)...wonderful. Then, my teachers *cough* Mme. Drider and Mme. Hum *cough,cough* had the fabulous idea of giving me a boatload of quizzes, tests, assignments, homework and projects, so I barely have time to breath in between days. Lately, I've become addicted to AVPM and AVPS (youtube it potter fans, youtube it), and the website , making my spare time filled with both of these + role-playing. Also, I'm a procrastinator, I save stuff till the last minute. So you can imagine how cramped up my schedules been. Thank you for listening to my ranting. NOW, ONTO THE CHAPTER CHAPS!**

**Disclaimer: I. OWN. NOTHING...yet...*evil laugh***

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Chapter 6: Stupid phone calls

Annabeth POV

* * *

_Ask Luke. If he doesn't tell you anything, maybe we can figure something out._ The words were written on shambolic, cramped, slopping writing, which made them nearly illegible. The sentence had 14 words, 70 letters, and 23 vowels. You want to know how I know that. I memorized it. Not only that, it was in my head. All day, like one of those annoyingly catchy pop songs.

* * *

10:50 AM (ten minutes after Percy Jackson left)

Dial tone…

Dial tone…

Dial tone….

"Hey, this is Luke Castellan," Came the voice of my fiancé through the phone.

"Hey Luke." I said, relieved.

"I'm not here right now, so call me later or leave a message after the beep and I'll be sure to call you back. Thanks."

You know, it's funny how my life can be so messed up at times. I shook my head and began dialing Luke's cell phone number into my own phone.

Dial tone….

Dial tone….

Okay, I thought, frowning, this is kind off annoying.

Dial tone…

Dial tone…

Scratch that, extremely annoying.

Dial tone…

Dial tone…

Oh My God! Pick up the frickin' phone already Luke!

"I'm sorry; the customer you are calling is unavailable at the moment." I heard a nasally sounding, monotone woman's voice from the receiver, who was definitely NOT Luke, "Please, call again later."

If it were possible to strangle the lady, I would have done it at that instant.

* * *

Where could he be?

It was currently 5 pm, and I was leaving my office for my silver Toyota, ready to either a) dispatch a search party, to look for my missing fiancé, or b) just go home without a care in the world (insert sarcasm here), eat chocolate, drink wine, and take a bath in my expensive bubble soap thing from Bath and Body works.

I ended up choosing option b) because a) was so not going to happen. Also, after this long, stressful day, I think I deserve to recuperate.

First I didn't get any work done after 'reading' that goddamned answer. When I did manage to finish the plans I had been working on, prior to Percy's arrival, the stupid printer was jammed, so I had to wait until a blubbering technician with grease stains all over his uniform, and a balding head finished fixing the printer. Worst part of this- the idiot was trying to flirt with me, even though I very clearly had a ring on my hand.

And finally, some imbecile had decided to press the stop button on the elevator because one of the earrings had fallen down the shaft, and they refused to go down until somebody had found it.

I bet it was a model. They are so conceited.

Anyways, I had to walk down about sixteen flights of stairs in a tight skirt, and a pair of uncomfortable heels that were _killing_ my feet. Today, like most days, I found myself cursing my boss, and wishing that I had some sweats and running shoes instead of this formal attire.

When I finally finished dragging myself down the stairs, and into the parking lot, I bumped into someone.

"Annabeth!" exclaimed the nervously surprised voice, of someone I knew all too well.

"Luke!" I exclaimed, beaming. Finally, I thought, now, I can ask him!

"Hey, what's up?" he asked me.

"Not much," I said, "My new assistant just had his training day, and Juniper's forcing me to carpool with him, claiming that it's 'environmentally friendly'. And, well, you know June… nobody can say no to her." I said rolling my eyes, but anxious to ask him the question.

"Cool, cool." He said thoughtfully, "Did you have a good day?"

"Yeah, Percy's a nice guy, though I don't know about his assisting skills." I said thoughtfully.

"Percy? Like Percy Jackson?" Luke asked me, alarmed.

I pretended to ignore his tone, and say, "Yeah, I doubt there's many Percy's in New York."

"Hmmm..." He agreed lightly.

"So what have you been up to Luke?" He looked up, as though I'd just snapped him out of deep thought.

"Oh you know, I've been around. I had a...Uhh…meeting with my boss today."

"Really? That would explain why you didn't answer my calls. So what was your meeting about?" I asked him curiously.

"Oh umm, someone had a complaint about the delivery, so Diana called a meeting to talk about it." He said, not looking at me, but rather looking over my head.

"Oh, cool." I said. Now's the time Chase. Ask him.

"So, you know the Jackson's right?" I asked, trying to seem like this was of the top of my head.

"Well, yeah. Poseidon Jackson, co-founder of Olympian Corporation, our boss…"He replied me, loosening the blue tie around his neck.

"I didn't mean if you knew _about_ the Jackson's. You know Percy, don't you?" I asked him, bumping my hand against his, trying to be reassuring, and coaxing him into giving me the answer at the same time.

"Oh...we went to camp together when we were younger." He said, running his hand through his hair.

"Oh. Hmmm...Okay, it just seemed like yesterday there was some bad blood between you guys."

"Oh...Yeah. We didn't get along too well." He told me, sheepishly, still not looking me in the eyes.

"Really Luke? I had no idea!" I said, sarcastically.

He stared at me.

"What? Do I not have the right to be sarcastic?" I asked innocently, as we neared my parked car.

He smiled slightly, and draped his arm over my shoulders in a friendly manner. I leaned into him, relaxing my head into his shoulder.

"So... who's Thalia? And Bianca, and Rachel?" I asked him, thoughtfully, just realizing one more question I wanted to ask him about yesterday.

"Oh...Them. They are nobody..." He said a distant look in his eyes and a mischievous smile on his face.

No they aren't. I bet they where his old girlfriends.

"Oh, look! Your car!" He said sounding thankful, as though he didn't want to answer my question.

I frowned, and looked up at him, "Oh, right...well I'll see you later, 'Kay Luke?"

"Yeah, sure." He said, relieved.

He gave me a quick hug, and left to the east wing of the parking lot, where I assumed his black pickup truck was located.

I watched him walk around the bend before climbing into my Toyota, while muttering, "Men, thinking they can lie to me!"

I sat down in the comfy leather seats, and reached over to the back seats to grab my pair of grey sneakers that I kept there for after work use, just so I didn't have to torture my feet further by wearing the idiotic heels.

* * *

Women are amongst the most stereotyped species of the planet. Us and Durmstrang students (hey, who knows, they could actually be very nice people. Just because they go to a school for the dark arts doesn't mean that they are evil or mean or something.) . For example, all women are expected to wear makeup…and like it. All women are supposed to have this odd obsession for shoes/heels, and are supposed to buy them at any given opportunity.

Not true. In fact, I absolutely HATE heels, as you may (or may not) have noticed (depending on how slow you are.). For example, me and my friend (okay colleague…but we get along) Clarisse LaRue, executive head of the AreDiv (aka, Ares Division), is (on the outside), a small woman. Petite even. You wouldn't guess that she's the type of woman to cuss you out for even the slightest mistake. Just ask her assistant, Julie. The cause for this might be that she was once a military official, working down in Iraque, where even the slightest mistake could cause the whole operation.

On the other hand, there's Silena Beauregard. Though she is probably one of my best friends, she is one of the vainest people I've met. Nice, but incredibly vain. Once I asked her if she wanted to go skiing with me. She shows up in a hot pink ski coat and snow pants combo, with a mirror in her breast pocket. Then, she makes this whole fuss about the helmet; "It'll ruin my hair!" She kept complaining.

Eventually, she agreed to put it on, only to spend the whole time flirting with Charles Beckendorf, of the Hephaestus branch of Olympian Corp, who eventually gave her his phone number.

The moral of this story, is that there are exceptions to all rules (kind of like in grammar).

The only reason I doo wear these death traps are because they are part of the dress code here at Olympian Corporation. If given the choice, I would rather eat my own toes with ketchup rather than wear these things… okay, maybe that's a tiny bit melodramatic, but the truth is, I really hate them.

* * *

I plugged in my IPhone to the car's stereo, put the music on shuffle, and immediately, Forever, by Fireflight sounded through the speakers in my car.

I bopped my head to the beat of the song while pulling out of the parking lot, and into the busy New York streets. I hadn't heard this song in a while, and I'd always loved the lyrics.

I thought back to today, looking up at the clear blue skies. Today would have been a perfectly good day. I could have stayed in bed. I could have called in sick. I could have stayed in bed all day, sleeping! I could have gone kayaking… I could have…I could have…

Oh, who am I kidding? I could never do that! I love my work!

Though I'll admit, today was a truly exhausting day. It could have gone about normally, except for the fact that my assistant of two years was getting a new job as an environmental writer for the New York Times, and today being the training day for her replacement. Who incidentally got me on track for a mystery, concerning him, and my fiancé.

* * *

Thinking about Luke, there was something rather…odd about him. He was nice and everything and he made me happy, but sometimes, I felt as though he wasn't really…there. It was…unsettling… to think about this because I love him, and am going to marry him. Maybe there was something going on with him. And being Annabeth Chase, it drove me crazy thinking what it could possibly be. She wasn't nosy or anything, it's just that she'd been hurt too many times before to let trust come easily. And then there was that day at the restaurant. I knew something was up. Just by the way Luke was acting. It was linked to Juniper and Percy as well. Along with some people by the names of Thalia, Bianca, Rachel, and Nico.

Thalia…She'd known someone with that name before. A long time ago though… Or maybe she'd read something to do with her. Either way, Thalia was a pretty common name, and she was sure it probably wasn't her old classmate from back in San Fran, where I'd moved from two years ago, when I acquired this job.

I got out of my car in my apartments garage, still thinking about Luke, and the other unknown people, wondering who they could be.

* * *

The elevator ride up was peaceful…in my mind at least. In reality, I spent the whole elevator ride up to the fifth floor with two screaming kids (their parents trying frantically to calm them), a punk looking teenager with a purple Mohawk on his shaved head, and a old and wrinkled Chinese lady with a huge, fluffy, white cat, that kept hissing at an infant who was pulling at its fur.

I stepped into my apartment, relieved to be home. I when to my kitchen- a large, tidy space filled with an assorted collection of pots and pans, a fridge, dishwasher, stove and multiple shelves, and pantries- and grabbed a bar of chocolate which I kept in one of the polished cabinets, grabbed a lighter, and proceeded to go to my living room for my scented candles, and a thirteen-year-old bottle of wine.

* * *

Lying in a tub full of bubbles, eating chocolate and drinking wine, with the faint smell of jasmine flowing through the air was truly a good way to unwind, and forget the world after a day like Annabeth had had.

Of course, as much as you may want to forget the world, the world sure as hell doesn't (and won't) forget you. The only thing Annabeth would hate to have ruin this moment, is the phone ringing, but of course, this must happen eventually, because as much as you want to forget the world, the world will not forget you.

* * *

There was a number of thing I could do after receiving that phone call because as cruel as the world is, it always gives you options.

A) I could crawl into the fetal position and cry my heart out,

B) Call Juniper and tell her what happened, or

C) Do absolutely nothing; just sit, wallowing in my own misery.

Choosing options A) and B) were out of the question. Juniper would probably say 'I told you so' or something like that. Besides, the voices in her head wouldn't shut up, _'Option A)! It's not your fault! do it you'll feel better!' _said the weak, and scared part of my brain.

'_Get a grip on yourself Annabeth! He was only a boy! There'll be others! And besides, how would you know it'll make her feel better?'_The tough part of me mused. _'She doesn't enjoy self-pity you know.'_

The weak part of me sighed through her nose (or at least Annabeth thought so), '_Bah. You think you know her well.' _

A piercing sound ended her thoughts. _Wahh…huh…Wait! Is that my phone?_

She looked over to her bedside table, in search of the source of the source of the disturbing sound. She found the flickering light, signaling a call. _It better not be him…_She thought, half hoping it was so she could give him a piece of her mind.

She looked over at the scintillating screen 'Unknown Caller' it read. She scanned the number. _Who the hell could it be? _She let it ring, hoping the person would leave a message.

"Um..hi." Says a slightly familiar voice. "It's um, Percy. Jackson. Percy Jackson. First things first; don't ask how I got your number, I have my sources, mainly Facebook." She snorted at that part, remembering stupidly how she had put up her contact information. " so…uh, call me when you have the time. Bye"

For the second time in an hour, my head felt dizzy with questions. Why would he call me? I rubbed my temples in attempt to clear my mind of all that had happened, though ghosts of the past events seemed to be imprinted on the back of my eyelids.

* * *

It was near midnight when she finally fell asleep, still puzzling over the events of the night.

* * *

**So...wondering what happened yet? You'll have to find out :D now, please click that review button that I love oh-so-very much and get reviewing. Also, it would totally rock if you guys reviewed my other store (a short one-shot on Zoe Nightshade during the Titans Curse and before immortaliy that I've had up for quite some time now...). March break is just around the corner, so don't get your wands in a twist about me not updating sooner.**

**-Leia**


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